It’s called 96 Minutes, a film we initially profiled back in March 2011, soon after its debut at the SXSW Film Festival, which Evan Ross (who won a breakthrough performance award at SXSW for his work in the film) and David Oyelowo both co-star in.

It was eventually acquired last fall by ARC Entertainment and XLrator Media (North American rights specifically) in a partnership, with plans to release the thriller in early 2012.

Well it’s early 2012, so what’s up?

I learned earlier today thta the award-winning film will first hit VOD on March 22, followed by an April 27 theatrical premiere.

Before that however, it’ll make its last film festival appearance at the Pan African Film Festival which gets underway tonight (I won’t be there until next week, so I’m missing the premiere of Think Like A Man right now :)).

So if you’re attending that festival, you’ll get to see the film before everyone else. It’s on my PAFF to-see list.

Synopsis reads:

96 Minutes tells the harrowing story of a carjacking and four kids caught in the terrifying maelstrom of one night. Intercutting between the car and the beginning of that day, we follow the separate stories of each kid – where they come from, who they are, and how they all ended up in one car on this fateful night. Their worlds are starkly divided along class lines, but on this one night, their lives slam headlong into each other. Not all of them are innocent. Not all of them survive. These 96 minutes will change everything.

The flick is directed by Aimee Lagos, her feature film directorial debut.

A brand new poster was just unveiled, which I embedded below; and underneath that, watch the trailer:

Zhao said with her Bass Reeves biopic, she’ll direct a more traditional cast like she did with her first-timers: “You can work with an actor in a certain way, you can create an environment like Terrence Malick has always done.”